Traveling long distances on the Mac

[ris]

Early in our trip we learned that if you wait to cross big water, and weather moves in you have to sit and wait until calm weather returns. Sitting on anchor in the rain is not bad if you are in a good place. You can do inside maintenance, read or make fancy meals ect. So when you have bad weather in the future or just a lot of big water to cross and it is calm, you just push it.
On 30 Apr we were anchored in a place called spooner creek. This was a small basin surrounded by houses, the basin was only about 400 feet across and every house on it had a boat lift next to the seaward. We and three other boats anchored in a line in the middle of this basin. Felt like being in a fishbowl. We left there at 0700 went by Morehead city up the Newport river, through some ICW canals to the Nuse river, to the bay river, across Pamlico river, to the Pungo river to Belhaven NC. If you look on the map these rives are 5 to 10miles wide and very long. We were on the Neuse and Bay river for about 4 hours as they are connected with a sound. As you know you have to watch the weather, we use Storm for our weather app. We had a little rough water on the Neuse river as there are ocean swells and wind waves. We were going to stop but a new boat friend ahead of us said it would calm when we turned into the bay river as the swells would be from the rear, so we pushed on. When we got to the Pamlico river it was calm so we crossed it and entered the Pungo river which is about 10 miles long. All day the wind had been out of the south west so we were kind of rolling when headed in a northern direction. So when we entered the Belhaven break water we were tired it was 1830. That is 11.5 hours of boating with a lot of it in semi rough water.
The thing about traveling in a Mac is we seem to get invited over to someone else's boat a lot. We had just tied up to the dock and we're heading for a restaurant when the boat across the way asked if we were tired. We told them we had left from Morehead city that morning and they said come on over we are serving spaghetti and we know you guys need a glass of wine. I needed 3. So stepped off our boat onto a 40 foot steel tug for supper. The next night we were invited to a 55 foot Kadey Krogen Epedition for steak. I think the women feel bad for my wife being in that little boat.(She loves our Mac)
The morning after getting into Belhaven, wife went shopping for groceries, I filled our water bag (30 gallon), watered the batteries, (water batteries every 30 days use a syringe). We then washed the stainless, and flushed the outboard. On this new Honda all you do is screw in the hose and run the water, you do NOT crank the motor. Then walked around town ate lunch at the Spoon a very nice restaurant. That night we ate on the Kady Krogen.
Next morning left marina 0630 went further up Pungo river, to Alligator Pungo canal which led to the Alligator River which is 25 miles long and very wide to the Albemarle Sound which is 10 miles across South to North but very wide and rolled us a bit when we were half way across. We then ran up the Pasquotank River to Elizibeh City which is 18 miles. A total of 84 miles in 12 hours. Stormed last night and raining this morning but we are anchored in a little bay right next to some pines on shore. Very quiet and peaceful. We will rest and if the rain quits go into town. Elizabeth City boasts they have more free docks than any other city. But we like our little anchorage.

[Seapup]

Nice update

You have some nice calm water ahead, the next 15 miles up to the locks are some of my favorite ICW in this area. We found the same thing in our , we were often adopted by other cruisers. We went down via the dismal to Elizabeth city earlier this month. Unfortunately it looks fairly rainy locally for the next few days.

[yukonbob]

The thing about traveling in a Mac is we seem to get invited over to someone else's boat a lot.

That's just cruising, not necessarily the Mac. When you're not racing or fishing you slow down and find the real cruisers. They're a friendly bunch and usually like to drink and share stories. These are the people that use and know their boats inside and out and don't care about what boat you have or what you're intentions are, they're just enjoying time on the water. They'll tell you where the good fishing is, where quiet anchorages are, any little secrets and tips, maybe give you the extra fish they caught that day; All with no agenda other than glad to help a fellow boater out. But the 80 footer anchored out of the harbour that has a crew of 12 where the owners gets shuttled to dock to go shopping for the day while the crew stays and does maintenance...don't expect a dinner and drinks invite any time soon

[Three Gypsies]

Richard , I think they feel sorry for us !

We too , get invited over to the BIG boats . I'm not sure if they are being nice or showing off .
Its more fun getting together with the smaller boats and real people .

One gentle memory was in Carrabelle . A bunch of small boats were anchored , waiting on a weather window , to cross the gulf , we got together and had a potluck dinner and watched movies on our boat .

It was six adults and dogs . I slid the hatch closed set up the computer there along with the remote speakers , for the movies , while i was below frying fresh caught fish

[sailboatmike]

Im sure these people are just trying to be nice and hospitable, Im also sure they have no idea how cavernous a Mac is in the cabin, we have many people aboard who comment that they would never of believed that a 26 foot boat had so much space and amenity (and in such a good looking package may I say )

Im just about to install a double burner Origo stove (I have measured but still praying it will fit) to make life that bit easier, I hate waiting for a cuppa while tea is cooking

We do have the Rolls Royce or Cadillac of trailer sailors after all

[Ixneigh]

Any real sailor know the allure of a simple little boat and few cares. They may not have one, but at one point they probably did. Sure the big cruiser is glamorous and the owner is quite proud of it but believe me they are still just a bit envious of the simple little boat that does not consume a whole checkbook per month. If I had gobs of money I might build a slightly larger version of a Mac but I doubt I'd be rushing off the buy a sixth footer.
Btw I've been invited over buy the gold plated crowd but the food really isn't any better
Ix

[mrron_tx]

I read Captain Johns book BYOB, which is about travelling the Great Loop on frugal budget. And He mentions this situation a lot. The biggest , fastest boats are usually at the same anchorage or marina as the slow pokes enjoying much better fuel usage. Sorry for the plug but it is a good book Ron.

[DaveC426913]

A total of 84 miles in 12 hours.

84 miles - that's the whole trip? So the 12 hours is stretched across how many days?
I* can't do more than a couple of hours at cruising speed.

* by "I" I mean "the "royal I" i.e. The Admiral

[ris]

The whole loop (the trip we are on) is 5000 or 6000 miles. The 84 miles was from 6:30am to 6:30 pm the same day. About 3 hours was rough with waves from the port side, and then waves from the port/aft of the boat. Did I mention dodging about a thousand crab pot floats.

[cptron]

Sounds like you're going the Dismal Swamp route. If so, take your time and enjoy the history of the first ICW that was hand dug by slaves. There is an information booth about half way through that a lot of people stop and actually spend the night at. It is a very interesting place. Leaving Elisabeth city and going up the river to get to the swamp was an awe inspiring moment for the Admiral and I. It was early morning with the sun coming through the trees and the water so still, making it hard to tell where the water and shore meet. Enjoying your trip with you through your posts so keep em coming.

[Seapup]

Sounds like you're going the Dismal Swamp route. If so, take your time and enjoy the history of the first ICW that was hand dug by slaves.

Just passing thorough some find it boring, but once you dig into the history there is a lot of lore and interesting stories. Some absolutely heart wrenching. Hopefully you get Robert in Deep Creek and have some extra time, its time well spent, he does swamp tours and is a wealth of knowledge. Some debate the slave labor idea, as the digging was a paid job.

Initially there were dozens of canals, it used to even connect over to the the Currituck sound 30 miles east. The only side canal left now is the feeder ditch. It used to be very tight, but its pretty open now, you can take it 3 miles up to the dead end at the dam and dock for the night. There is a campground only accessible by boat there.